I've been waiting about 4 weeks for some data at work. They finally, after repeatedly broken promises, got it to me... yesterday. Which basically means I'm working this weekend, probably both days. Somehow my boss doesn't see their being four weeks late with the data as allowing me not to turn things around in the three days we committed to. My boss is not generally known as the "easy" boss.

Maybe a miracle will happen, and I'll finish early*, but it's not looking good for me to come today. I was really hoping they'd be delayed until Monday. I even had a new stove picked out for today.

I hope it's a good time. Please post photos for those unfortunates stuck indoors at a keyboard today. I am thankful to have had an actual job for two years in a row now, but their timing sucks.

HJ

*It's three primary files of 15 to 20 million records each that have to be merged with key files and then matched back to a database table unload, the purpose being to validate that the data corresponds to the database unload, showing accurate values where those values are "displayable" and those values that are "non-displayable" are blanked out. It's neither quick nor simple.

Uh oh. Are there grills at the park so we can improvise with charcoal? I don't know any way to make immediate contact with everyone since we don't have a group text going on...lesson learned, maybe a good idea next time. For now I'm still trying to find the park...I just finished the Tram Road Challenge, so I'll have a little time to kill. May take the tram up and do some exploring before the get together...

No worries HJ! I've had other similar situations where I was suddenly stuck just like you - the worst part for guys like us is that we feel like we're letting others down. Not to worry, no such thing is happening here. We all would have enjoyed seeing you and Joyce, but as they say, "Come what may, work before play." I'll let everyone know what's going on and I'm sure we can adapt to cooking needs.

It was a long drive up from San Diego, but it was worth it! Vicki and I had a great time, and ate some great food. My personal favorite was Ellen's awesome cookies (I ate far too many). Vicki and I were sad that Hikin' Jim couldn't make it, as we brought plenty of raw eggs, cheese, bell peppers, etc. for omelettes. We neglected to check the forum one last time before leaving, or we would have brought a frying pan. As it turned out, we had a Jetboil MiniMo Stove (that I wanted Jim to check out) and Vicki tried her best to cook omelettes down in the bottom of that thing without burning them. Jim would be the first to tell you that jetboils don't simmer worth a darn.

Anyway, Vicki and I had a lot of fun. Thanks, Ellen, for making this happen!

I understand, HJ. When I was an engineer, I forced a programmer to spend a weekend with me completing a project. When he had a family weekend at Big Bear planned, cabin reserved. He quit a few months later, citing me as the reason at the good-bye event. I think he had a better job offer, but his dig was not entirely humorous.

Hi all. I had a great time too, so I echo the thanks to Ellen. Cynthia, you were showing me Bruce Lee's Dragon of Death move if I recall correctly.

I enjoyed the yummy eggs and the tasty chili, but I somehow didn't get any wings, so next time I'll be more alert on that matter. Ellen, I ate my last cookie on the way to work this morning. We should set another one up, perhaps in the spring when the weather is nice. Good times with good friends!